Thursday, June 9, 2011

Comparing old JVC KW-XR810 to new KW-HDR720

I have the JVC KW-XR810 double-DIN receiver in my car and love it.  But it still has it's limitations.  Most of all I miss having more EQ frequencies to play with, plus I'd like to have HD Radio.  (Though I suspect HD Radio is slowly dying.)


Now JVC has introduced a new KW-HDR720 receiver which is the 'mid-range' model in their line-up of double-DIN radios.  Both units are very similar and JVC has not made it easy to compare the detailed features of both units.  So I have painstakingly reviewed both User Manuals and present my findings below.

older XR810 ($300 at Crutchfield)
  • includes Bluetooth adapter
  • supports HD Radio but not included
  • parametric EQ has 3 bands each with 3 frequency settings
  • subwoofer level can only be adjusted by digging through Menu settings
  • supports Sirius satellite radio
  • supports Bluetooth profiles: HFP 1.5, OPP 1.1, PBAP 1.0, A2DP 1.2, AVRCP 1.3
  • separate High-Pass and Low-Pass crossovers for mains vs subwoofer
  • dedicated 'Phone' button
  • 'full-dot' LCD
newer KDR720 ($220 at Crutchfield)
  • supports Bluetooth adapter but not included
  • includes HD Radio
  • parametric EQ has 3 bands each with 4 frequency settings
  • subwoofer level adjustable directly from EQ window
  • no support for Sirius satellite radio
  • User Manual has no details about Bluetooth profiles
  • no separate High-Pass crossover for mains; just 'on/off' ?
  • dedicated 'Tag' button for HD Radio which doubles as 'Phone' when used with bluetooth
  • old-style 'segmented' LCD lettering
 They also have the 'low-end' KW-XR610 model which is the same as the XR-810 minus the $100 USB bluetooth adapter; the KDR720 uses a different adapter.

I'm happy to see the additional EQ frequencies but wish they'd included even more.  Also, I'd like to know if the bluetooth support has been improved.  My current setup (XR810 paired with HTC Hero running Android 2.3.3) has inconsistent phonebook support and also is missing any audio display functionality (which I think requires AVRCP 1.4).
______________

UPDATE: Ha!  No sooner had I written-up all this then I noticed the following PDF on the JVC product web-page. It shows that the KDR720 has the same level of bluetooth audio support (as the XR810) but not the phonebook support.  It also looks to have superior radio-tuner performance, in general (not just with HD).
Comparison Chart of JVC Car Audio receivers
______________

No comments: